Six teens killed, 2 hurt in Ohio SUV crash

Mar. 11, 2013
|

An Ohio State Patrol vehicle sits along Pine Avenue S.E. in Warren, Ohio, where police say six teens were killed in an accident when the vehicle they were traveling in went off the roadway and into a pond, Sunday. / AP Photo/R. Michael Semple, Tribune Chronicle

A Honda Passport went off the side of the road, struck a guardrail and went airborne, just south of Warren, Ohio, nearly 60 miles east of Cleveland, in northeast Ohio.

Investigators say it came to rest in the swamp and sank with five of the victims trapped inside. A sixth who was thrown from the SUV during the crash was found under it when the vehicle was taken out of the water.

The two boys who survived escaped from the submerged vehicle and ran to a nearby home to call 911, the highway patrol said.

State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said at a Sunday evening news conference that speed was a factor, although investigators were still trying to determine the speed at the time of the accident.

Brian Henry, 18, and Asher Lewis, 15, were the only survivors. They were taken to the hospital, where they were treated for bruising and other injuries and released, said Julie Gill, a nursing supervisor at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren. All of the victims are from Warren.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said it's not believed that the eight people inside the vehicle were closely related.

After the news conference, the gates of an impound lot were opened to show the wreck, with windows smashed and extensive damage to the front end, hood and roof.

"All I know is my baby is gone," said Derrick Ray, who came to the crash site after viewing his 15-year-old son Daylan's body at the county morgue. He said he knew that his son, a talented football player who was looking forward to playing in high school, was out with friends, but didn't know their plans.

"It hurts, it really does, because they are so young and, like, they could have had so much more to life," said Daylan's 12-year-old half-sister, Mariah Bryant, who said she learned they were siblings in the past year. "We just really started getting close, and it's hard to believe he's gone."

Two of the teens, both 15, were brought to a hospital "in full cardiac arrest," Gill said, and were pronounced dead there. She said they were treated for hypothermic drowning trauma, indicating they had been submerged in cold water.

The highway patrol received the first call on the crash at 7:15 a.m., Ralston said. Divers helped the patrol.

Warren City Schools Superintendent Michael Notar says grief counselors will be available at the school throughout the day tomorrow. The school building will also be open to members of the community from 6-7:30 a.m. at the Willard K-8 building and the high school.